Ruffin’ it during finals week

Willow, a 6-year-old golden retriever, brought a “paws” that refreshed UD students as they dug into finals week at Roesch Library with the library’s first-ever therapy dog event.

Willow came with tail wags and a smile to give them a bit of a break. Students paused on their way out of the library, dropping their backpacks to give her a bit of a scratch. Willow strolled around the first and second floors, occasionally mobbed by students, sometimes going up on her own in response to someone who just glanced up from a computer screen or textbook.

Accompanied by owner Karen Brown and trailed by a pack of local news photographers, Willow spent about an hour in Roesch on Monday, the first of three visits this year by dogs from the Miami Valley Pet Therapy Association. Like many colleges across the country and in addition to 24/7 library and RecPlex hours, UD offers stress-relieving activities to students like free pizza and coffee, dance parties and chair massages.